Collapsible clothes stand



April 11, 1967 s. G. INJESKi 3,3 3

COLLAPSIBLE CLOTHES STAND Filed May 5, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR STANLEY 6. INJESKI AT TORN EY April 1967 s. G. INJESKI COLLAPSIBLE CLOTHES STAND 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v Filed May 3, 1965 m /M S E Y R J E O N Z m w W T vY T NE A L N A T S J V. B 8 w 4 United States Pate t he 3,313,425 Patented Apr. 11, 1967 3,313,425 COLLAPSIBLE CLDTHES STAND Stanley G. Injeski, Milwaukee, Wis, assignor to Worldsbest Industries, Inc., Cudahy, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin Filed May 3, 1965, Ser. No. 452,673 8 Claims. (Cl. 211-178) This invention relates to clothes stands, and more particularly to an improved collapsible clothes stand.

Clothes stands of the type considered herein find particular use to support hangered garments or clothes that are to be or have been pressed or ironed on an adjacent ironing board. Clothes stands of this type include a cantilevered hanger receiving beam that supports the hangered garments and such stands are made collapsible so as to permit occupying only a small amount of storage space when not being used. A

One prior form of clothes stand is disclosed in US. Patent 2,921,763 to H. J. Miller et al. for Clothes Stand, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. In the clothes stand disclosed in such patent, an upright standard and thee spaced base legs are interconnected by lockable hinged braces. While the stand of such patent does provide an excellent support for hangered garments, problems have been encountered in the commercial fabrication of the collapsing structure. Specifically, the operation of this earlier collapsing structure depends upon the proper fitting of the brace sections to each other and to the standard and legs. If the fit is too loose the braces may not lock and if the fit is too tight it might not be possible to manually unlock the braces. It has proven to be economically difiicult to secure suitable raw materials and to assemble these raw materials in such a way as to produce a stand that functions properly. The lockable hinged brace type collapsing structure has not proven itself to be capable of consistently meeting reasonable commercial standards.

The clothes stand of the present invention incorporates a collapsing structure that includes a slide that is disposed about and movable along one of the standard or legs together with links pivotally attached at one end to the slide and at the other end to a respective one of the other legs or standard. Means are provided to lock the slide in a position in which the links will hold the standard and legs expanded, and by release of such means the slide is movable outwardly on its support to cause the links to collapse the standard and legs. The collapsing structure is not dependent to any critical degree upon the fit of the various parts since the slide can be made loosely slidable upon its member and the links function only as pivotal connections between the slide and the standard and legs.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved collapsible clothes stand in which the mechanism for collapsing the stand does not require close tolerances or fits to function in a consistent commercially acceptable manner.

It is another object of this invention to provide a collapsible clothes stand in which only one means need be released by the user of the stand to permit the complete collapsing of the stand.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a collapsible clothes stand having an upright standard formed of a pair of telescoping tubes, together with improved means for locking the telescoping tubes in any desired extended position so that complete adjustment of the vertical height of the stand is achieved.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will appear in the description which follows. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which there is shown two embodiments of the clothes stand. These embodiments will be described'in detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. However, it will be obvious that changes can be made to the embodiments shown without departing from the scope of the invention; consequently, the description should not be taken in a limiting sense.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view in elevation of an expanded clothes stand in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view in perspective of the base structure of the clothes stand of FIG. 1 and illustrating the collapsed mechanism;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of a portion of the upright standard of the clothes stand of FIG. 1 and illustrating one form of locking means for the telescoping members of the standard;

FIG. 4 is a view in horizontal section taken in the plane of the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view in horizontal section taken in the plane of the line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the clothes stand of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a view in vertical section taken in the plane of line 7-7 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a view in vertical section taken in the plane of the line 8-3 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the clothes stand of FIG. 1 showing the stand in a collapsed condition;

FIG. 10 is a side view of an alternate embodiment of locking means for the telescoping members of an upright standard; and

FIG. ll is a view in horizontal section taken in the plane of the line 11-11 of FIG. 10.

Referring now to the drawings, an upright standard, designated generally by the numeral 15, is formed of outer and inner telescoping tubes 16 and 17, respectively. A hanger receiving beam 18 is attached to the top of the inner tube 17 by a pair of L-shaped brackets 19 which are each securely afiixed at one leg to an opposite side of the beam 18 and pivotally attached at their other legs to the inner tube 17. The beam 18 is adapted to be swung to the position shown in FIG. 1 in which the inner end of the beam 13 abuts against the inner tube 17 to hold the beam 18 in the illustrated cantilevered position.

The outer and inner tubes 16 and 17 are provided with square cross sections and the inner tube 17 is of a size which provides significant clearance between the inner and outer tubes. However, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, opposite sides 16' of the outer tube 16 are crimped inwardly adjacent the top of the outer tube 16 to reduce the clearance between the tubes to that necessary for a sliding fit. Additionally, the inner tube 17 is provided with a pair of stop plates 20 on sides of the inner tube 17 corresponding to the crimped sides 16' of the outer tube 16. The stop plates 21 prevent complete withdrawal of the inner tube 17 and provide an additional point of contact between the tubes.

The inner tube 17 can be adjusted vertically and held in a selected position within the outer tube 16. To this end, a generally U-shaped bracket 21 is attached to the top of the outer tube 16 with arms 22 thereof projecting away from the inner tube 17. The arms 22 are provided with inclined slots 23 that are directed downwardly and toward the inner tubes 17. A locking rod 24 is journaled at its ends in the slots 23 and flanges 25 prevent endwise withdrawal of the rod 2 5. When the inner tube 17 is positioned at the desired height, movement of the locking rod 24 within the slots 23 toward the inner tube 17 will wedge the rod 24 between the inner tube 17 and the arms 22. Such wedging will prevent downward movement of the inner tube 17 since this would have the effect of wedging the rod 24 tighter. However, the inner tube 17 can be moved vertically since this will cause the rod 24 to be loosened.

The bottom of the outer tube 16 is pivotally mounted within a channel 26 by a rivet 27. The channel 26, together with upper and lower base plates 23 and 29, respectively, are secured to the top and bottom of a forwardly extending long leg 30. The base plates 28 and 29 are formed to provide oppositely extending side wings which mount rivets 31 that pivotally attach inner ends of a pair of side legs 32. Each of the long legs 30 and side legs 32 is provided at its outer end with a depending foot portion that mounts a caster 33. The upper base plate 28 is also provided with a tab 34 that is disposed upright behind the standard and adapted to define a stop for the standard 15.

A slide, designated generally by the numerical 35, surrounds the long leg 30. The slide 35 is formed of a U-shaped plate 36 disposed about the top and sides of the long leg and a generally U-shaped bracket 37 disposed about the sides and bottom of the long leg 30 and has its sides pivotally connected by rivets 37 to the sides of the plate 36. Such rivets 37 also pivotally mount the ends of a pair of links 38 which are pivotally connected at their other ends by a rivet 38' to opposite sides of the outer tube 16 at a point above the rivet 27. The U-shaped plate 36 is formed with oppositely extending ears 39 which pivotally mount by rivets 39' the ends of links 40 each of which is in turn pivotally connected at its other end by rivets 49 to a respective one of the side legs 32 outwardly of the pivotal connection of such side legs to the base plates 23 and 29.

The slide is adapted to be moved along the long leg 30 and, as will be appreciated, as the slide member 35 is moved outwardly along the long leg 30, the links 38 and will cause the standard 15 and the side legs 32 to pivot about their respective pivotal connections to the bracket structure and the standard 15 and side legs 32 will be drawn against the long leg 3%, as shown in FIG. 9. The beam 18 can be swung about the top of the standard 15 to lie against the standard 15 to complete the collapsing of the stand.

A spring biased detent is provided to lock the slide 35 in an inward position relative to the bracket structure to hold the stand open. A detent 41 extends through an opening in the top surface of the long leg 30 and is mounted on the short bowed leg of a fiat metal spring 42 whose longer leg engages an inner surface of the long leg 30. The U-shaped plate 36 is provided with a longitudinal outwardly extending groove 43 and a hole 44 is provided in such groove 43. When the slide 35 is locked in an inwardly directed position relative to the bracket structure, the detent 41 projects through the hole 44 and prevents movement of the slide 35. To collapse the clothes stand it is simply necessary to manually depress the detent 41 to disengage it from the hole 44. To reengage the detent 41, an upwardly directed lip 45 is provided at the inner end of/the U-shaped plate 36 to direct the detent 41 into the centering groove 43 for automatic reengagement in the hole 44.

In FIGS. 10 and 11 there is shown an alternate means for holding the inner tube 17 in an adjusted position in the outer tube 16. Such means includes a generally square clamp member 46 secured by a tab 47 to the top of the outer tube 16. The clamp 46 is bifurcated at one corner with outwardly directed spaced ears 48 extending from the bifurcated ends. The ears 48 are provided with holes to receive a screw 49 and a wing nut 50. It will be appreciated that in a loosened condition, the clamp 46 will permit vertical movement of the inner tube 17 within the outer tube 16 and that when tightened, the clamp will hold the inner tube 17 in a selected adjusted position.

The collapsing mechanism of the clothes stand of this 4 invention is positively locked by the spring biased detent and does not depend upon close fit. Only one means need be released to permit complete collapsing of the stand. Furthermore, the standard can be adjusted to any desired position within the maximum and minimum height.

I claim:

1. A collapsible clothes stand comprising: a standard; a hanger receiving beam mounted to project laterally of said standard; three radially spaced legs extending outwardiy from the bottom of said standard; bracket means pivotally connecting the bottom of said standard and said legs; a slide disposed about one of said standard and legs and adapted for movement therealong toward and away from said bracket means; a plurality of links each pivotally connected at one end to said slide and at the other end to a respective one of the others of said standard and legs whereby movement of said slide away from said bracket means will collapse said others of said standard and legs against said one of said standard and legs; and means for releasably locking said slide in an inward position relative to said bracket means to hold said standard and said legs in an expanded position.

2. A collapsible clothes stand comprising: a standard; a hanger receiving beam mounted to project laterally of said standard; a support to which the lower end of said standard is pivotally connected, said support including a forwardly directed leg extending in substantially the same direction as said beam; a pair of side legs each extending at an obtuse angle to said forwardly directed leg and being pivotally connected to said support; a slide mounted for longitudinal movement on said forwardly directed leg; a link pivotally connected between each of said standard and side legs and said slide, said slide being movable along said forwardly directed leg between a position inwardly of said support in which said links hold said standard and side legs expanded and a position outwardly of said support in which said links collapse said side legs and standard against said forwardly directed leg.

3 A clothes stand in accordance with claim 2, wherein said slide is a box member that surrounds said forwardly directed leg with one side of said box member being provided with an opening, and said forwardly directed leg is provided with a spring biased detent adapted to be engaged in said opening to hold said slide in said position inwardly of said support, said detent being adapted to be manually depressed to release said slide for movement outwardly of said support to collapse the clothes stand.

4. A collapsible clothes stand comprising: a pair of telescoping tubes forming a standard; a long leg having bracket members secured to one end thereof and to which the bottom of said standard is pivotally connected; side legs extending laterally at either side of said long leg and each being pivotally connected at one end to said bracket members to pivot in a common plane that includes said long leg and which plane is normal to a plane defined by said standard and said long leg; a slide surrounding said long leg and adapted for longitudinal movement therealong; a link pivotally connected at one end to said slide and at te other end to said standard above the pivotal connection of said standard to said bracket members; links disposed in said common plane and each pivotally connected at one end to said slide and at the other end to a respective one of said side legs outwardly of the pivotal connection of said side legs to said bracket members; said links pivoting said standard and side legs as said slide is moved outwardly from said bracket means to collapse said standard and side legs against said long leg; releasable locking means to hold said slide in an inward position relative to said bracket means so that said links hold said standard and side legs expanded; and a clothes hanger receiving beam pivotally connected at one end to the upper end of said standard to project laterally of said standard in the same direction as said 5 long leg, said beam being collapsible alongside said standard.

5. A clothes stand in accordance with claim 4, wherein said slide is a box member having one side provided with a longitudinally extending detent centering groove including an opening, and a spring biased detent is mounted in said long leg, said detent being urged outwardly of said long leg to project through said opening and lock said slide in said inward position, and said detent being manually depressiole to disengage from said opening and release said slide.

6. A clothes stand in accordance with claim 4, wherein said telescoping tubes have square cross sections, and a separate generally square clamp member is mounted on the top of the outermost tube to surround the innermost tube, said clamp member being bifurcated at one corner with ears projecting outwardly of the bifurcated ends of said clamp member to receive a bolt, whereby said innermost tube may be held in a selected vertical position.

7. A clothes stand in accordance with claim 4, wherein said telescoping tubes have square cross sections and a bracket is secured to and extends upwardly from the top of the outermost one of said tubes, said bracket including a pair of laterally extending arms disposed on either side of said outermost tube and each having slots that incline downwardly and toward the innermost tube, together with a locking rod journaled at its ends in said slot and adapted to be forced downwardly in said slots to be wedged between said arms and said innermost tube to hold said innermost tube in a selected vertical position.

8. A clothes stand in accordance with claim 4, wherein the upper end of the outermost tube is crirnped and the bottom of the innermost tube is provided with a stop that cannot pass the crimped upper end of said outermost tube and thereby prevents complete withdrawal of said innermost tube.

Reierences Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,92l,763 1/1960 Miller et al 24812l 2,957,669 10/1960 Berlin 248121 FOREIGN PATENTS 893,033 4/1962 Great Britain.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A COLLAPSIBLE CLOTHES STAND COMPRISING: A STANDARD; A HANGER RECEIVING BEAM MOUNTED TO PROJECT LATERALLY OF SAID STANDARD; THREE RADIALLY SPACED LEGS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM THE BOTTOM OF SAID STANDARD; BRACKET MEANS PIVOTALLY CONNECTING THE BOTTOM OF SAID STANDARD AND SAID LEGS; A SLIDE DISPOSED ABOUT ONE OF SAID STANDARD AND LEGS AND ADAPTED FOR MOVEMENT THEREALONG TOWARD AWAY FROM SAID BRACKET MEANS; A PLURALITY OF LINKS EACH PIVOTALLY CONNECTED AT ONE END TO SAID SLIDE AND AT THE OTHER END TO A RESPECTIVE ONE OF THE OTHERS OF SAID STANDARD AND LEGS WHEREBY MOVEMENT OF SAID SLIDE AWAY FROM SAID BRACKET MEANS WILL COLLAPSE SAID OTHERS OF SAID STANDARD AND LEGS AGAINST SAID ONE OF SAID STANDARD AND LEGS; AND MEANS FOR RELEASABLY LOCKING SAID SLIDE IN AN INWARD POSITION RELATIVE TO SAID BRACKET MEANS TO HOLD SAID STANDARD AND SAID LEGS IN AN EXPANDED POSITION. 